Player Characters:
NPC's:
Previous Episode: Voyage of the Cursed Dawn - S02 E13
The session began with Red Flint reaching a low point. With the party scattered across Baldor pursuing their own objectives, he felt he had lost control of his crew and began to question whether they were making any progress at all. Then a voice spoke directly into his mind. It was Danu Elyse, Goddess of Light & Passage. She encouraged Flint and gave him the courage to continue. Renewed, Flint set out to find the others and bring the group back together. Meanwhile, Juulia Troski, still perfectly disguised as Jacob Black through the Piece of Eight, had failed to gain an audience with King Nevalon. Instead, she convinced Jacob's younger brother, Kal Black, to accompany her to a tavern. They ended up at Cuckoo Bananas, where Rasa Arziki and Abby were already sitting and Davkas Grosko soon arrived as well. The group convinced Kal to try some Vreugdedrank, and it didn't take long for him to become heavily intoxicated. But Davkas knew something the others didn't. He urgently warned the party that they needed to leave and hide Abby. Rasa immediately concealed Abby beneath his cloak and left the tavern. Outside, he passed Red Flint, who had just arrived, and continued away with Abby without stopping. Flint entered and found Davkas waiting for him.
“Sorry. I had to betray you.”
By now, Cuckoo Bananas was quietly filling with gnomes. The Shadow Shroom had arrived. Flint and the others fled into a nearby alley, but the gnomes followed. They found themselves surrounded by Skullcap and the Shadowshrooms, and a large fight erupted in the streets of Baldor. Inside the tavern, Juulia remained disguised as Jacob Black and came up with another solution. She convinced the drunken Kal to offer five gold pieces to everyone in the tavern willing to come outside and join the fight. It worked. Around fifty drunken patrons poured out of Cuckoo Bananas and threw themselves into the battle against the Shadow Shroom. During the fighting, the party noticed something strange about Skullcap. After being injured and briefly losing concentration, part of his appearance seemed to flicker. For just a moment, it became apparent that Skullcap might not actually be a gnome at all. Whatever was beneath the transformation appeared far more sinister, possibly even a lich. Skullcap responded with an extremely powerful area spell. It tore through the crowded battlefield, killing most of the drunken townspeople who had joined the fight. The players, however, survived. Then Juulia stepped forward, still appearing exactly like Jacob Black. Skullcap recognized him. With Abby apparently finally within his grasp, Skullcap addressed “Jacob” and revealed the truth: “Here she is, for your father. Our deal is now complete.” The revelation changed everything. Skullcap had been working for the Black family all along. His attempts to obtain Abby, the living Sands of Time, were ultimately connected to Jacob Black's father. But because Skullcap believed Juulia really was Jacob, he believed he had fulfilled his agreement with the Black family. This allowed Abby to remain safely with the players, and Skullcap agreed that the Shadow Shroom would leave them alone.
There was still the matter of Davkas.The party promised Skullcap that they would deal with him themselves. But for Davkas, the confrontation marked something larger. His actions had finally severed his connection with the Shadow Shroom and forced him to confront the life he had been living. He abandoned his old title:
Davkas the Reverend.
From now on, he would call himself:
Davkas the Rogue.
With the battle finished, the party needed somewhere secure to recover. Thanks to Juulia still being disguised as Jacob Black, she convinced the castle guards to allow the entire group inside. They entered King Nevalon's castle and settled in for a much-needed night's rest. Session ends.
Next Episode: Voyage of the Cursed Dawn - S02 E15